Gangstagrass (Photo courtesy Fiona Bloom)
Founded in 2006 by Brooklyn producer Rench, Gangstagrass combines hip hip and bluegrass into a groundbreaking sound. Gangstagrass has new music to perform, and the band will play it at Hill Country Live on Friday, Aug. 17.
Gangstagrass is perhaps best known for the band’s Emmy-nominated song, “Long Hard Times to Come,” the theme to the hit FX drama, Justified. Rolling Stone hailed Gangstagrass as blazing a trail for a new genre sometimes known as “Hick-Hop.” For Rench, the music came naturally after growing up on Run DMC and breakdancing while also listening to Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.
Watch Ganstagrass perform “Home” live at Paste Studios in New York City on March 13 via YouTube:
Gangstagrass is working on a new live album, set for potential release in Winter 2019. The band’s last full-length album, American Music, hit #5 on Billboard’s Bluegrass chart in 2015. In 2017, Rolling Stone named Rench as a country artist “you need to know.” Rench “has discovered the sweet spot where string music and MC beats coexist. The 15 tracks on Them’s the Breaks, his excellent new solo album, marry the progressive-country vibe of Gram Parsons with the gritty street sense of Jay Z. Influenced equally by George Jones and Cypress Hill, Rench – real name Oscar Owens – often uses his music to effect societal change,” said Rolling Stone.
Gangstagrass
Hill Country
Friday, Aug. 17
Doors @ 9pm
$15-$20
All ages